Red Dot on a Ruger Mark IV

[Art in Colorado]

Red Dot's are new to me and need advice. I will be doing most of my shooting out to a max of 30 yards or so. What MOA would be the best. I understand that a 3 MOA covers 3 inches at 100 yards. Would that be too small of a dot at say 25 yards? Or should I go to a higher MOA? I am in un-charted territory with these Red Dot scopes. Have never used one after a long lifetime of shooting iron sights or traditional scopes so what ever advice I get will be appreciated.

[JimB..]

Depends on what your goal is. If you want fast and hit a man-size target, then a larger dot is appropriate because it's easier to pick up as you bring the gun up. If you want to shoot more slowly and make smaller holes then a smaller dot is more appropriate.

[country gent]

I prefer a dot to fit the target size with a little around it. On an appeture the front should encircle the bull with a 1/2 -1 min extra. With these set ups you just simply keep the line even all around the dot or inside the appeture.

[GhostHawk]

Personally I like a 2.5 moa dot. Keeps from covering longer targets although I do not shoot mine at long ranges often.

With the current crop of Red Dot sights it is easy enough to adjust intensity. So IMO you don't need a huge dot.

My Wife and I have a pair of Ruger Mk III's 22/45's, both have Truglo Red Dots on them. Roughly 60$ price range. Not high end, but not dirt cheap. Both will put 10 rounds in a pop bottle cap at 7 yards with room left over. Pretty much one ragged hole.

I have also found that as the muzzle comes back down and crosses the target you can stroke the trigger again at the right time and put that one almost in the same hole.

With a little practice I would say 10 shots in under 8 seconds, all inside a 1" dot.
To me that is a dang handy tool. I could not come anywhere close to that with iron sights.

Both guns will do it, both myself and my wife have done it, on good days.

Everyone finds what they want, eventually. Maybe I got lucky. Maybe if I had more money coming in I would go for one of the 200$ and up units that are out there.

All depends on what you need, what you are going to do with it, and how much you are willing to spend to get what you want.

For me, I'm perfectly happy with this. YMMV. This is on my wifes Ruger.

https://www.amazon.com/Truglo-Tru-Br...ed%2Fgreen+dot

And this is on mine.

https://www.amazon.com/Truglo-Red-Do...ed%2Fgreen+dot

[NSB]

I've been using red dots for over twenty-five years now. I used them for shooting major competitions for years and I've hunted deer with them for as long as I've owned them...and have shot dozens and dozens of deer with them. For all around use I use 3 or 4 moa dots and they work well at all distances. The really big dots don't work nearly as well. I've owned red dots where the dot size could be changed and I've never used the larger dot even one time. FWIW, I've used red dots on rifles a few times. I put one on a lever action 45-70 and could shoot sub 2moa groups with it (five shot, not three shot groups) at my personal range of 114yds. Just get a dot 5moa or smaller and you'll be good to go for anything you use it for.

[BigAl52]

I like you have never used a red dot much before. I just bought the bronze model of a Ruger Mark IV ultra light 22/45. I tried a Bushnell trs 25 and it worked fine. But I liked the reflex sights better and after seeing a Burris Fastfire on another 22 type pistol I decided to buy one. It has a 3 MOA dot. I really like the burris and it looks great on the Mark IV. Yes its more money and maybe more than you care to spend. Got mine for 188.00 off amazon. Just my .02 cents worth. Al in Colorado

[PerpetualStudent]

Do you mind saying about how many rounds you've got through them Ghosthawk? Some of the reviews claim that it works great at first but gets dodgey after a decent round count.

[NSB]

You get what you pay for with red dots. The very cheap ones have a lot of parallax and they also have unplated connections. They don't hold up with sustained use, aren't as accurate, and usually fail after a year or so. I've owned the cheap ones (back when I first started using them) and soon regretted not getting a better one. Back then even the "better ones" weren't all that good. Today they are much better. The Burris FF2 and Burris FF3 are very good sights. The FF3 is a bit better (it's the newer one of the two) in that you can change the battery without removing the sight and it has more adjustments. If you plan on using one, this is a very good one to get. I had one on a 44mag and one on a 45-70 rifle and both held up very well to heavy recoil and had almost no parallax.

[Mytmousemalibu]

The C-More on my race gun has an 8-moa dot module in it right now and I love it! I shoot out to 20-30yrds with it without an trouble but I will say that being a race gun used for USPSA, speed is a big consideration so I favor a bigger dot to aid in rapid acquisition.

[GhostHawk]

Oldest one is just some 15 months as setup, has not been shot a lot. That is my wifes. The other one was our first but we used the iron sights for at least a year. It is a 20 yr old new old stock Stainless steel, black grips, bought 3 years ago.

After I got the Red Dot on my wifes setup and shooting and I saw what it would do I went looking for a dovetail mount. Mine was made before they were all D/t for rails.

Found a mount for 60$ and set it up about a year and a half ago.

I do not shoot them that much. Much depends on how good I am feeling.

I would say I have close to 1k rounds through it.

If you are concerned about how long it will last I suspect the higher price ones will have longer service life and better service if there is a problem.

But, with the Rugers, they are not riding the slide, bolt slips back and forth under it, but they don't move. Mounted on a slide, especially on a heavier recoiling gun and I could see where they could have issues long term.

Time will tell. But at this point I have seen no issues, only had to make one small zero correction. POI was half an inch low and left and a couple of clicks had it back centered and it stayed put.

Do you mind saying about how many rounds you've got through them Ghosthawk? Some of the reviews claim that it works great at first but gets dodgey after a decent round count.

[winelover]

Been using red dots for almost as long as they have been available. Have them on almost every firearm and bow, that doesn't have a conventional scope. Since I don't shoot competition, I don't want a dot larger than 4 MOA. For shorter ranges, 4 MOA dot is adequate but I would opt for a two or three minute, if available. For longer ranges, 1 MOA is preferred, but these are very rare. Usually, settling on a two minute dot.

For the best of both worlds, a chevron (inverted triangle) aiming point, would be the ticket. The apex of the triangle would be used for more precise aiming, at the longer distances. While the entire chevron, would be used for close up and personal work. These are usually only available on the reflex type sights and mounting them can be challenging on some firearms. YMMV


Winelover

[NSB]

Shot with a 4 moa dot Burris FF3 at 114yds with Win/Miroku 45-70. You don't need a dot smaller than this.

.Attachment 194210Attachment 194211

[Art in Colorado]

Decided on the 3 MOA Vortex Venom. Wating on my Mark IV to have the Volquartsen trigger installed. I think this will be the last pistol I will be shooting in my life so I thought I would not spare the expense. I have sold off several of my big bore revolvers. All that is left is a S&W 686 and a 57. Also, still have my three Sigs. Thanks to all for their input since these Red Dots are new to me.Art

[Blackwater]

This is a darn good question, but I'm not sure it has a definitive answer. I say that because a lot depends on what you'll be shooting with it. With a Ruger Mark of any vintage, I'd assume that it'll be used for small targets, like squirrels, etc.? If so, a smaller dot, down to 1.5-2 MOA would allow you to place shots a bit more precisely. However, there's also the trait within them that you can dial in the brightness that's bright enough that you can see your aiming point, but still light enough that you can look "through" the dot, and center your target that way. Either way can work, and most folks generally just go with the smallest dot they can afford on the RF's, and maybe a 3-4 min. dot if deer or self defense is the aim.

Either way, they're not called "The Old Man's Friend" for nothing! Being able to see your sight and hit again is a real revelation!

[rsrocket1]

Just make sure you have 20/20 far sight vision or something close to that. Few people tell you that. Unlike a scope where you can dial in the dioper if you are a little near sighted, you can't do that with a reflex "red dot" and it expects your eyes to focus at infinity or close to it (close to infinity, that's an oxymoron). I first tried one when using my weaker glasses and could not focus on the dot or crosshairs to save my life. Then I put on my correct glasses and the reticle was in perfect focus.